


Sharing Secrets

by until_the_earth_is_free



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, GNC Chilton, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attacks, Post-Episode: s02e13 Mizumono, except will never got stabbed and hannibal's in jail denial is fun you guys should try it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 19:28:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1910931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/until_the_earth_is_free/pseuds/until_the_earth_is_free
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So basically Will and Chilton go to this fancy psychiatrist thing but then the psychiatrists are douchey about Chilton's gender expression.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharing Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> it's 3am okay shhhh i know my title is pathetic okay it's 3 in the fucking morning on a monday what is my life i hope y'all are proud of what i've become  
> also warnings for vague transphobia and maybe slightly homophobia also probably panic attacks

 

 

 

 

Frederick had been looking forward to this day with anxious anticipation for over a month, this day marking his return to the showy life of psychiatry conventions, drinking champagne with the leaders in his field, discussing the latest treatments and techniques with his colleagues, maybe even finally being respected, now that he had been part of the story leading to Hannibal Lecter's arrest.

Frederick's excitable nervousness had given him a slight buzz in the week leading up to the Baltimore Psychiatrists' Ball, one that was only relieved by chewing his ridiculously expensive pens to shreds and fiddling with various household items. It was anxiety, but a pleasant kind, if there was one. A healthy dose of anxiety about a normal event.

Of course, not everything was back to normal. For the very first time, Fredrick was going to be bringing a date to this important psychiatry gathering.

He could tell that Will was almost as nervous as he was, walking into the grandiose ballroom where the Ball was being held, and Frederick couldn't blame him. A year ago, Frederick would have been desperate to get into Will's brain and would have launched himself at the profiler if he had seen him at a function.

Well, Frederick had gotten into more than just Will's brain in the past year.

Will looked good under the bright yellow lights, his features softer and the bags under his eyes less obvious. Giving his boyfriend's hand a light squeeze, Frederick guided him gently through the hall and over to the drinks table, where he could see one of the psychiatrists under his employment BSHCI standing awkwardly, available for easy conversation.

~O~

The evening was becoming a successful one for the odd couple, with curious onlookers coming over to see the administrator of the Baltimore State Hospital's previous patient and present arm-candy, and staying for the light-hearted black humour bouncing back and forth between Chilton and the other doctors, creating a small congregation around the drinks table.

"Say, Freddy," said one of the state psychiatrists from Virginia, about an hour into the event, off-handedly and slightly tipsily. "What have you got there on your hands?"

Frederick glanced down at the hand clasping his flute of champagne, although he already knew with an awful clench in his gut what was there.

Glinting in the bright light, only visible from certain angles and with a degree of concentration, was a delicate sheen of light pink nail polish.

"Why, I-" he stammered.

"It's nail polish!" the woman exclaimed, more out of pleasant surprise than anything else. "How in the world did you get it on your fingernails?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Frederick huffed, feeling Will's prickly gaze judging him for both the manicure and the lie. Why did he have to date someone who always knew when he was lying?

Another psychiatrist, intrigued, then grabbed Frederick's wrist in interest, causing the swell of anxiety in the man's stomach to burst like a ruptured spleen. In a knee-jerk response, Frederick yanked himself away, falling backwards into the drinks table, causing an entire square foot of wine glasses to get knocked over, leaving shattered glass and spilt wine everywhere.

"Wow, Freddy," the second psychiatrist said, raising his hands defensively. "There's no need to get so defensive, I mean, we all already knew you were gay..."

Frederick's heart was thumping too loud and distractingly for him to roll his eyes and correct his colleague about his bisexuality and how that had absolutely no effect on his gender expression and his peripheral vision was becoming out of focus. An anxiety was taking hold of his body now, and it was definitely not a good kind.

In his gasping, humiliated state, Frederick heard the beginning of a chuckle, which then grew into a fully-fledged laugh and spread around the room almost as fast as the fierce blush spreading across Frederick's cheeks as he looked around wildly for Will, Will who would make it alright, who would feign an emergency and take him out of this desperately claustrophobic situation filled with people who were supposed to be showing him respect and instead were mocking him.

Everything was going so terribly wrong so terribly fast.

Then, at last, two firm hands rested on Frederick's trembling shoulders and someone behind him announced,

"we really should be heading back now. It's a long drive back to Wolf Trap."

Will was guiding him out of that awful hall and leading him to his familiar vintage car, opening the passenger door for him like a goddamn gentleman, and turning on the engine.

"I'm so sorry," Frederick said, looking down at the clenched fists in his lap.

"Don't be. They were assholes."

"No, I mean," Frederick floundered, looking out the window now. "I'm sorry for not telling you earlier. About the nail polish."

"How long have we been living together now?"

"Two-"

"That's right. Two months," Will interrupted. "You really don't think I knew about the nail polish? Or the skirts hidden in your guest room?"

Frederick could almost sense each individual skin capillary vasodilating and causing the blush in his cheeks to bloom.

"It's not a weird sex-thing," Frederick said, quickly, and then immediately thought about how much more guilty he sounded by denying it.

"Oh no, I know _that._ To be honest, I don't mind what you do as long as you feel good doing it."

"Really?" Frederick glanced over to his boyfriend, his eyes wider.

"If pink nail polish makes you feel less anxious, I don't know why anyone could see it as a bad thing. Go for it. Just maybe not when you'd be embarrassed seen wearing it."

Chilton paused.

"It's a really effective confidence booster, you know. It's like a-"

"Like a secret?"

"Yeah."

Will mused this for a moment.

"Well, I hope you don't mind sharing your secret with me."

"With you, Will? Never."

Will grinned one of his rare smiles into the steering wheel.

"One more question, Frederick."

"Yes?"

Will inhaled deeply.

"How effective did you say this confidence booster was?"

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> like, comment if you feel like it????


End file.
